Microsoft XNA Game Studio 2.0

Microsoft XNA Game Studio is a revolutionary toolset and technology that makes creating great video games for Windows-based computers and the Xbox 360 console (with an active XNA Creators Club membership) easier than ever.

This release represents the latest addition to the XNA Game Studio family, Microsoft XNA Game Studio 2.0, which enables hobbyists, academics, and independent game developers to easily create video games for Windows and the Xbox 360 console using optimized cross-platform gaming libraries based on .NET.

This release of the much anticipated 2.0 version contains improved performance along with new features such as expanded support for Visual Studio 2005 products, networking and multiplayer support, the XNA Game Studio Device Center, easier Xbox 360 connectivity, improved content pipeline experience, and much more.

For additional setup information and known issues, please read the XNA Game Studio 2.0 Readme page using the link below.

Hardware requirements are identical to those for Visual Studio 2005 plus a graphics card that supports DirectX 9.0c and Shader Model 1.1 (Shader Model 2.0 is recommended and required for some Starter Kits).

The .NET Framework version 1.1 is required if you intend to use the Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT) for audio authoring.